The Inner Workings of my Personal Blog

One of the most appealing things about my personal blog, is that it can be anything that I want it to be. One week I can talk about books I plan on reading, and the next I can talk about dreaming about a crypt in my basement. The freedom of choice in regards to content makes blogging fun for me.

Operating a blog that is so spread out, in terms of content, has its pros and cons. The most obvious is that I’m not in a position where I feel as though I have to come up with fresh content based on a niche. For instance, when I write or record something for Stogie Review, I have to incorporate cigars. At times, this can be much harder than it seems.

I find that my best ideas come at random. If I sit down and try too hard to make a list of post ideas, I find that they always feel a little stuffy. So you may be wondering how I translate those random ideas into blog posts?

When I have a sudden idea about a writing topic, I try and write it down immediately. In addition, I also try and jot down a few words that will help jog the same series of thoughts I had when the subject popped in my mind. And when I say write, I mean just that. Often times I have a piece of paper and a pen handy (unless I’m actually out and about). My wife just loves to tease me about the little hand-written notes she finds in various places around the house.

For some strange reason, I feel as though writing notes the old fashioned way works better for me. When I am in a position where I can’t hand-write a note, I’ll reach for my Blackberry, but those times come infrequently. I love the idea of using technology for my note taking, but it just doesn’t seem to work for me. I’m always either forgetting to get caught up on my electronic notes, and don’t follow through with them. I think the reason hand-written notes work for me may have something to do with the satisfaction of physically crossing an item off of my list.

So writing a personal blog is easy because of the range of potential topics right? Absolutely not, think about all of the dead blogs you have come across over the web. I would think that the vast majority of these dead blogs consist of personal blogs of one sort or another.

I find that the best way to keep your blog alive and kicking is to find a balance and stick to it. I can’t reveal too much about my life. If I told too much, it could put me in a potentially hazardous position. If I told too little, it would kind of defeat the purpose of a personal blog.

In order to keep my blog active, I must lead a busy lifestyle to come up with new posts? Not really, I would think that the life I lead is average. My wife and I get out every now and again, and we have fun around the house. Some weeks I may not be able to come up with a single blog topic because of how mundane my week was. When I have a good week, I try and make the most of it by stretching out things from that particular week over a couple of posts.

These things work for me, but may be the bane of your personal blog. That is what makes this type of blog so much fun. Each one you come across will generate content in its own way. If you deciede to create one of your own, you will just have to experiment with different things to see how they work for you. The most important thing of all is simply to have fun with your blog.